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Fear and ignorance are a terrible combination.
But last week, McCain's subsequent effort to redo the tanker deal was dealt a setback. Government auditors ruled that the Air Force made "significant errors" when it rebid the contract and awarded the $35 billion project to Boeing's chief rival, partners European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (or EADS) and Northrop Grumman. It's likely the Air Force will have to redo the bid yet again, which analysts say will delay the replacement of the fleet's 1950s-era refueling tankers. The auditors' ruling has also cast light on an overlooked aspect of McCain's crusade: five of his campaign's top advisers and fund-raisers—including Tom Loeffler, who resigned last month as his finance co-chairman, and Susan Nelson, his finance director—were registered lobbyists for EADS.
Newsweek has this great article about McCains efforts to interfere in the process of purchasing these tankers from Europe.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/142658
5 of his top advisors lobbied for the European consortium.
Critics, including some at the Pentagon, cite in particular two tough letters McCain wrote to Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England in 2006 and another to Robert Gates, just prior to his confirmation as Defense secretary. In the first letter, dated Sept. 8, 2006, McCain wrote of hearing from "third parties" that the Air Force was about to redo the tanker competition by factoring in European government subsidies to EADS—a condition that could have seriously hurt the EADS bid. McCain urged that the Pentagon drop the subsidy factor and posed a series of technical questions about the Air Force's process. "He was trying to jam us and bully us to make sure there was competition by giving EADS an advantage," said one senior Pentagon official, who asked for anonymity when discussing a politically sensitive matter. The assumption within the Pentagon, the official added, was that McCain's letters were drafted by EADS lobbyists. "There was no one else that would have had that level of detail," the official said.
I spent yesterday with my son and his wife both in their late 20's and as usual got to talking politics. Both of them thankfully are Liberals. They did however offer a feeling they say many of their friends share and that is the no one in Washington really cares about Americans. They are concerned about whomever is paying them off. They see nothing wrong with funding a war, but not providing healthcare to the poor, they see nothing wrong with preventing same sex couples from marrying yet condone pedophiles, affairs and divorce of their brethern. I asked them both why they thought things had gone so wrong in America and their answer was Dad, It's about the MONEY. Pretty sad really, but i am afraid they are right.
Insisting on a campaign promise that Obama would filibuster any wiretapping bill that included retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that let the government listen in, Obama's allies at MoveOn are asking supporters to "call Sen. Obama today and tell him you're counting on him to keep his word."
Obama has said he'll work in the Senate to strip that provision from the House bill, but stopped short of promising to filibuster the bill.
Like the poor, Jesus, as expressed in Matthew 26:11, could just have well said, the haters and instigators will be with you always.
However, I have no doubt that Obama will win. Most people don't understand the sociological and political history of racism very well and even institutional racism thrives in many areas, in spite of political rhetoric and pitting of working class whites and blacks against one another. Of course, the more money you have, the more you can isolate yourself from what's going on, from street crime, school problems, work situations (you know--that black woman with the college degree who got the job ole Bob (who got his thru nepotism) wanted down at City Hall).
Meanwhile, John McCain's YouTube problem has become a nightmare:
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/39179-mccain-s-yo...
I doubt that voting for JFK was an exercise in religious tolerance back then and I doubt that voting for Obama is an exercise in racial tolerance today. The nation was ready for a change after Eisenhower. The nation is ready for a major change after the Bush Debacle. We're ready for change and we don't want a Leader Fuehrer to believe in.
said on Fox News this morning that Bush will bomb Iran if he thinks Obama is going to win. WE ARE IN TROUBLE
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/22/kristol-bus...
On a happier note the repubs are freaking out over BOB BARR, the conservative Ralph Nader...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080622/ap_on_el_pr...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
Are you joking? Have you read the so-called FISA "compromise"? It gives Bush broad powers to spy on anyone he chooses without a warrant, without legal justification, in addition to granting telecom immunity. It's not a compromise bill, it's a complete gutting of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. If Obama supports this bill, then he deserves criticism as does anyone else who voted for it, such as Pelosi and Hoyer.
"If American hates its own--how can it have face anywhere else in the world?"
"Nothing has awakened normally complacent white Americans more than the prospect of America having an overtly nonwhite president."
Presumably the previous nonwhite Presidents were covert, the sneaky things!!
nice analysis. But McCain has his own problems with neo-nazi racists too. He's close friends with Lieberman (remember David Duke visited and befriended Iran) ; pro-immigration reform (racists jammed the Cap Hill phones to block McCain's bill) ; and one of his daughters is from Bangladesh (that minor detail sunk his campaign in 2000).
My bet: racists will vote for Bob Barr, not McCain.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/22/obama-...
But, when one of them seemingly supports an anti-American FISA law and retroactive immunity that basically guts the Fourth Amendment by a Congressional vote that is against the will of the people...that does give me pause.
It seems to me that you're holding Obama to a much higher standard than, let's say, a "John McCain". Obama has clearly stated he wants to eliminate the special interest groups, bring foreign diplomacy back to the table,
put a cap on the loopholes that allow oil-speculations to drive up petrol. The list goes on and on. And this one
act of his gives you pause "in the cause"?
It sounds to me like you're sitting on the fence waiting for something to happen!
Those that do not, do not deserve election to the highest office in the land.
This is NOT a simple policy change by a candidate, this is the Bill of Rights that is being discussed.
Besides, we all know that McSame cannot wait to begin his trampling of any and everything. I just expect and demand that Obama stand for the Bill of Rights. I would rather chew off my arm than to vote for a neo-con. So, my options are either support Obama or simply sit this one out. The decision will be Obama's.
Much of what we interpret as racism is rooted in poverty. When one is on the bottom rung and that is coupled with ignorance, often familial and sometimes willful and certainly related to geographic location where new thinking usually isn't welcome, then the tendency is to disparage those above.
Racism is, to me, far more repugnant from the top down than is racism from the stereotypically ignorant bottom up.
And 3 in 10 approve of Bush. A coincidence, I'm sure.
Because I'm a straight, white, male, non-union member, non-student. I checked his category called "PEOPLE" on his web-site, and there's no category for me.
The white trash of America will be a critical factor in how the world judges us. There's a storm comin'.